Is There a Fuel Shortage?

[hawghauler]

I'm in South Central PA I have seen no stations without fuel

Now then I inserted my debit card in the diesel pump yesterday the pump laughed at me and printed a mortgage application

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by hawghauler

I'm in South Central PA I have seen no stations without fuel

Now then I inserted my debit card in the diesel pump yesterday the pump laughed at me and printed a mortgage application

I ran a few errands today and looked down at the fuel guage. It read between 1/2 & 3/4 full so I thought "Maybe I should stop and put $100 in ans see if I could "top it off".

[bsmith0404]

I mainly use the fleet card to get diesel, but the other day I stopped at Valero and used that card. The dang thing shut off at $125. I called them about it, it’s the card not the pump, they said they’re working on getting it increased. Well how long does it take to go into a computer system and change the limits. I get tired of having to go into the app to authorize the pump and start it over again. Using their stupid app is the only way to get the 10 cent discount. They say that’s to help prevent fraud.

[mikec557]

Originally Posted by RickV

They are acting like Taggart Transcontinental Railroad if anyone knows what am referring to.

Who is John Galt? And more importantly, when will he come get me!

[captainbillyw69]

We just finished a3,000 mile roundup from Albuquerque to Calgary and there were no shortages. Gas was $4.85 to $5.19. Calgary was about $6.50 per gallon

[KeystoneKal]

Saw an interview with an economist on tv this AM. There are five refineries shut down and the remaining are working at full capacity.
Any resemblance to the first oil crisis. ( oil tankers floating out in the Gulf of Mexico until prices went up ) is purely coincidental.

[Cameo]

Originally Posted by bsmith0404

I don’t know if it’s just a trend because others have posted videos or if this is actually becoming a real issue. I’ve been starting to see more and more videos on social media about fuel stations being out of fuel. Is this just an east coast concern or is it spreading west? Today I saw a video of a Loves truck stop where almost every pump was shut down and a trucker stating he’s seen this in several states. Doesn’t say where he’s at. I personally have not seen this where I’m at.

We’re leaving in about 1.5 weeks for a month long trip. I typically start looking for fuel stops when I get to 1/4-3/8 of a tank, that’s still 100-150 mile range. There’s never been an issue getting fuel. I think I’ll be adjusting that to fueling up anytime I get down to 1/2 tank.

I have traveled from Texas to Virginia. I've seen a few stations out of regular gas. But not a lot of tgem

[bsmith0404]

Originally Posted by KeystoneKal

Saw an interview with an economist on tv this AM. There are five refineries shut down and the remaining are working at full capacity.
Any resemblance to the first oil crisis. ( oil tankers floating out in the Gulf of Mexico until prices went up ) is purely coincidental.

I heard/read somewhere (don’t ask me where) that only 1 in 30 rigs in the US are actually running. A drive through the TX panhandle will make you wonder if it’s even that many. I realize not every oil rig is still productive and I don’t claim to understand anything about that industry. I know there’s some on here with industry background and maybe they can shed more light on the subject. Just seems like a lot of excuses and pointing fingers from anyone and everyone about what the problem is and how to fix it. If you spend an hour of your life reading and trying to understand what’s happening, that’s an hour you’ll never get back and still not have any more knowledge.

We leave on our month long trip in a week. I spent some time this morning looking at fuel prices, trying to determine the best areas to buy fuel and planning the route/stops based on that. I did plan a couple extra stops along the way to add a few gallons to make sure I had plenty of fuel reserve to make it to each stop where I can pack the tank full. What was a $600-700 fuel budget when the trip was planned has turned into $2000. I’m not draining the tank and running on fumes between stops, but the thought of a fuel shortage where some stations may be low or out forcing me to get fuel from stations charging more, along with prices continuing to rise over the next month could easily run the fuel budget up to $2500 or more. At this point, the uncertainty of it all makes me wish we were going 50 miles from home instead, but we’re not changing our plans, just spending more time being strategic about them. Never put this much thought into a trip before.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by KeystoneKal

Saw an interview with an economist on tv this AM. There are five refineries shut down and the remaining are working at full capacity.
Any resemblance to the first oil crisis. ( oil tankers floating out in the Gulf of Mexico until prices went up ) is purely coincidental.

Been retired from the industry for 14 years, but I can say prior to retirement & before the big push for EVs the regulations, thought up by folks that had no clue, on the industry were getting absolutely ridiculous & in most cases VERY expensive to implement. I can't imagine what they'd be like today with all the greenies in charge screaming about fossil fuels. I spent 15 years working upstream of the refinery shipping crude & the last 15 downstream pipelineing refined products where I don't think those regs were quite as strict, but nonetheless expensive to implement.
Like any other businesses the manufacturer is going to pass that operating expense onto the consumer whether it be refiners, clothing manufacturers or grocers.
As for refineries being shut down, most all have an annual "turn around" where they shut down to repair, replace & update everything that's needed, this may be the time of year those refineries have chosen to do so, not out of the ordinary, it's just now it's suddenly news worthy.

[Mikelff]

Any fuel shortages are probably two causes. Lack of consistent delivery from storage facilities, and refinery capacity maxed out in that area. There have been no new refineries built in more than 10 years due to EPA regulations and costs to build new refineries , and the public not wanting a refinery near them. The North East is in dire need of more pipelines but they cannot get approvals to build them. The problem nation wide is not lack of crude oil but lack of refining capacity. They cannot make enough fuel fast enough. Covid shut down the oil fields/drilling and it takes a long time to ramp up. They are very short on labor. Rig counts are steadily increasing, It can take up to 6 months, outside of Texas, to get a drilling permit. It just doesn’t turn around on a dime. Oil companies have fixed their balance sheets and curtailed capitol outlays but have not stopped drilling. It will take a year or more to get through this. Oil is a GLOBAL market and oil prices are controlled GLOBALLY. This is where the Russian oil has caused such a price spike. The US alone cannot have much of an impact on prices alone until we can ramp up production, which will take time. Secondly, we need more refinery capacity from NEW refineries, and NEW pipeline to deliver the refined products. We have just about maxed out our infrastructure. Prices will slowly start to come down over time. Oil has dropped around $20 a barrel from its high, and will fluctuate for a while, then hopefully steadily decrease. My wife is in the oil business and hears about the market conditions on a daily basis. Things will get better but will take time months/years. Hopefully, the government and the industry can work out a plan to make things move faster. Time will tell.

[Ccrew]

East coast issues are being primarily driven by fuel pricing and transit times. Most east cost refined goods come in via Colonial Pipeline and given fuel cost volatility the 18 days it takes for fuel to make it from a TX refinery can directly affect bottom line and make it more profitable to load it on a tanker ship at fixed price and send it elsewhere. It's more a regional issue because there are few other transit options into the east beyond Colonial, as witnessed by the major shortages when they were hacked.

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by KeystoneKal

Saw an interview with an economist on tv this AM. There are five refineries shut down and the remaining are working at full capacity.
Any resemblance to the first oil crisis. ( oil tankers floating out in the Gulf of Mexico until prices went up ) is purely coincidental.

Another Houston refinery is about to close. Lyondell is closing the old Sinclair plant. It's a fair sized plant; I'm thinking 200,000+ barrels per day.

I Googled closed refineries a while back and it's a eye popping list.

[Sokcap48]

We left southern Utah. May 2 traveled basically I40 to Memphis with side trips along the way then return I70 to Denver to southern Colorado and back to Utah on June 13 and had no problems getting fuel. O e weird place in Branson was out of Diesel but the rest of the town had diesel. Prices actually went up as we retuned west but everyone had fuel.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by Ccrew

East coast issues are being primarily driven by fuel pricing and transit times. Most east cost refined goods come in via Colonial Pipeline and given fuel cost volatility the 18 days it takes for fuel to make it from a TX refinery can directly affect bottom line and make it more profitable to load it on a tanker ship at fixed price and send it elsewhere. It's more a regional issue because there are few other transit options into the east beyond Colonial, as witnessed by the major shortages when they were hacked.

And those folks in charge that believe it's safer to ship crude oil or refined by rail or truck than to pipeline it, WRONG!

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by bsmith0404

Things that make you scratch your head. I’ve noticed a lot fewer racers traveling in from out of state for big races this year as well. We have a big 360 non winged race tonight, hope there’s some good out of state guys and not just a bunch of the locals pulling the wings off their 305s.

I'm about to find out. I "think" I have made an almost "definite" decision to "probably" go to the Knoxville Nationals in Knoxville Iowa. I don't remember last years car count but 200 seems to stick in my old brain. Most of those are likely well sponsored but there is probably a few operating on a shoestring budget that $6 diesel is just too much.

[firestation12]

In Showlow, AZ (a small town in northern Arizona sporting 30 degree cooler weather than the Phoenix valley) Circle K (a convenience mart), often has fuel island closures due to having lower prices (sometimes $.70/gal diesel) than Phoenix 140 miles away. BTW West side of Phoenix is where the fuel is being trucked from to Showlow. Go figure!

[jwheibe]

Originally Posted by hankpage

Only problem here is restarting the pump every $100.00

I had trouble with using my debit card and getting shut down at $100. I tried using my Credit Card and was able to put $175 in my truck. However, that's still a lot of money to put into a pickup truck...

[bsmith0404]

Originally Posted by gearhead

I'm about to find out. I "think" I have made an almost "definite" decision to "probably" go to the Knoxville Nationals in Knoxville Iowa. I don't remember last years car count but 200 seems to stick in my old brain. Most of those are likely well sponsored but there is probably a few operating on a shoestring budget that $6 diesel is just too much.

It wasn’t too bad, the 350’non winged series regulars that wanted points were there. I was surprised that not as many of the locals pulled the wings and put a 360’in as years past. Total car count for the 360s was only 18, but could have been worse. The late model class has dropped so far they have trouble getting more than 10 cars. I’m going to the track in Rapid City SD next week, I’ll see how up north compares.

[sourdough]

Here's a quick excerpt from the Washington Post about refineries being shut down within the last 2 years;

Five refineries have shut down in the United States in just the past two years, reducing the nation's refining capacity by about 5 percent and eliminating more than 1 million barrels of fuel per day from the market, leaving the remaining facilities straining to meet demand.

I read the other day some are being repurposed for biofuel production. Other locations and companies are unwilling to invest/reinvest their money given the current environment. Beyond that it's a political conversation.

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by jwheibe

I had trouble with using my debit card and getting shut down at $100. I tried using my Credit Card and was able to put $175 in my truck. However, that's still a lot of money to put into a pickup truck...

I have a Gas Buddy card (linked to a credit card) and it would restrict to $75/day, then it was raised to $100/day and $400/week. It's useless traveling but when we're home I'll use it. With T-Mobie they have deals every Tuesday with 25 cents off fuel. Then using the card gives me another 25/gal and it's at Shell stations so I use my Shell fuel rewards card as well. It can make a nice difference when it all lines up.